1. Using two or three plays you have studied, compare the
presentation of two or three characters [e.g. introduction, dramatic
interactions with other characters], saying in each case how the
presentation furthered the dramatists' purposes, and how it rewarded
your study.

2. 'While the momentum of the play is carried by major characters,
there is often a significant minor character who is a catalyst for
change or enlightenment.' Compare the role of a significant minor
character in in plays you have studied, showing how these characters
contribute to the dramatic action.

3. 'People often act first and reflect afterwards'. In what ways have
the connections between action and reflection been more and less
important to the plays you have studied?

4. Human illusions have always been a powerful subject of plays,
both tragic and comic. In what ways have the plays in your study
considered this aspect of human behaviour and with what effects?

5. A play is often a complex web of conflicting emotions. Compare
the ways in which playwrights in your study have presented emotional
conflicts so as to make an impact on the audience.

6. 'Characters in a play are often motivated by strong passions or
desires.' Compare and contrast plays you have studied in the light of
this statement. Discuss, in each case, the dramatic effects created by
the exploration of such motivation.

7. Compare and contrast the presentation of any three or four
characters in plays you have studied. Explain how, and how effectively, each
character seems to you to further the dramatic force of the play in
which he or she appears.

8. 'What do women and men really want?' Discuss the dramatic
techniques through which similar or different desires of the genders
have been expressed in plays you have studied, saying how the
presentation of them creates an effect on the audience.

9. Plays which succeed with audiences must communicate some aspects
of the thoughts and motivations of the characters. How far and by what
means have dramatists in your study conveyed the interior lives of their
characters?

10. All characters in plays are mouthpieces for their author. From a
consideration of some characters from the plays you have studied, say
how far you agree.

11. A necessary part of drama is not only to present conflict between
the characters in a play, but also to create conflicts within each
member of the audience. Compare and contrast two or three plays you have
studied in the light of this comment.

12. 'In real life, we are frequently unsure of the motives behind the
actions of our fellow human beings, but in a play we must be sure, or
the character will become blurred.' In plays you have studied, compare
how far and by what means dramatists have ensure that the audience will
be very clear about the motives of significant characters.

13. Consider how dramatists make characters speak in plays you have
studied, and say how the language and tone of these dialogues,
conversations and monologues contribute to each play as a whole.

14. The audience's response to characters in drama is due, in part,
to the relationships of these characters with others in the play.
Compare the ways in which dramatists in your study use such interactions
to present full and complex character portrayals to enhance the
theatrical experience.

15. A drama critic recently drew attention to the 'threatening
encounters' as a powerful feature of a new play. Discuss encounters
[threatening or otherwise] in plays you have studied and consider them
as features of the drama created in each case.

16. The 'past' of characters - their implied or recollected
experiences - are often used by dramatists to enlarge and enrich
character portrayal. Evaluate the use and the importance of characters'
lives prior to the events of plays in your study to explain or
complicate the events included in the plays.

17. Using plays you have studied, write an essay on the presentation
of the relationships between male and female characters [or between
characters of the same sex], giving some idea of the dramatic effects
achieved by these means.

18. Because a play is simply not words on a page, actions and
gestures play a significant part in engaging the audience. Considering
the plays you have studied, compare and evaluate the role of action and
gesture in enhancing the central thrust of the play.

19. The interactions among characters in a drama is often associated
with the acquisition, the holding or the loss of power. By what means
and with what effects have plays in your study addressed power
relations?

20. What part does fantasy play in the lives of the characters in
plays you have studied; how is this fantasy presented and to what effect
on the audience?

21. In every play there are characters who the audience regard as
either essential or expendable. In plays you have studied, discuss why
characters can be seen in either of these ways because of their
relationship to the play's meaning.

22. In what ways do the plays you have studied dramatise either the depths to which human beings can sink or the ridiculousness of some human actions?

23. Discuss the extent to which, and the ways in which, each
playwright's presentation of female characters differs from that of male
characters, making clear effect in each play.

24. The playwright cannot depend, as does the novelist, on a
narrative voice rounding out a a character by means of description and
analysis. How are the personalities and views of characters effectively
conveyed in the plays you have studied?

25. 'A play stands or falls on the dramatists' ability to create
believable characters.' How far have you found this statement to be true
in the plays you have studied?

26. Through an analysis of some of the characters in two or three
plays you have studied, compare the ways in which the struggle between
internal and external forces is presented.

27. How do characters and the choices they make contribute to meaning in two or three plays that you have studied?

28. The difference in a play between what is being said and what is
being done can provide one focus of interest for the audience. In plays
you have studied, by what means and to what effect have dramatists made
good use of such differences?

29. 'Drama explains individuals, not relationships'. Paying close
attention to how individuals and relationships are presented in two or
three plays you have studied, say how far you find this statement to be
true.

30. Dramatic conflicts arise when dominant individuals or groups
regard themselves as the norm against which others are to be measured.
With reference to specific scenes from at least two plays you have
studied, discuss the significance of such conflicts and how they are
explored.

31. Drama is often the expression or investigation of power:
characters can, at different moments in a play, be oppressors or
victims, dominant or subservient, users and used. In terms of power and
its effects, discuss three or four characters from the plays you have
studied, and say what this power-play adds to the play as a whole.

32. In plays a character who appears briefly, or who does not appear
at all, can be a significant presence, contributing to action,
developing other characters or conveying ideas. To what extent have you
found this to be true of at least two plays you have studied?

33. 'Comedy exposes human weakness; tragedy reveals human strength'.
How and to what extent does this claim apply to at least two plays you
have studied?

34. A change in status of the characters in a play [a success, for
example, or a loss or exposure] helps to convey the ideas and/or values
of the dramatist. How and to what extent has change in status
contributed in this way to at least two plays you have studied?

35. 'In drama there are more interesting roles for men than women'.
Discuss to what extent you agree with this statement and what it is that
makes a role interesting. Refer closely to at least two plays you have
studied.

36. Consider the ways in which scene changes may highlight the
development of characters and their relationships in two or three plays
you have studied.

37. Isolation, either mental of physical, can lead to despair or
enlightenment. In the plays you have studied, show how playwrights have
used isolation of any kind to heighten the dramatic effects of their
plays and develop their characters.

38. How far, and in what ways, do plays you have studied support the
idea that communication between human beings is difficult or perhaps
impossible?

39. How have plays you have studied presented 'what happens inside a human being' in dramatic terms?

40. One dramatist has maintained that theater ought to pursue a
re-examination, not only of aspects of an objective external world, but
also aspects of the inner worlds of human existence. What choices have
been made in the plays you have studied to pursue one or the other, or
both, of these aspects, and what theatrical techniques have been used to
carry out this choice?

41. In achieving a strong dramatic effect, a playwright will
sometimes work to elicit from the audience heights of admiration or
depths of loathing for certain characters. Compare by what means
different dramatists have have managed to construct such powerful
characterisations and the effect of those on the play.